Review - Ray Davies, Finlandia House Hall, Helsinki, Finland


From: Thorbjörn Pluten
Date: 19 Oct 2004

Now it has happen!!!???? Ray in Helsinki, Finland after 39 years (last time in 1965). And what a show he presented!, we had read/heard rumours that he is in good shape/condition, but nobody would have thought, that he's 60,he more looked like 35!!!!! The show was ~2 hours, far too short!!! Finlandia Hall was, yes you can say; sold out!!!!

He opened the show with INLEE, continued with Hard way and After the fall, this time the song was not dedicated for the regim of Iraq, as in London spring 2003. Then we heard Autumn almanac, Village green, Animal Farm, before we had Sunny afternoon, and if you don't know this song, you shouldn't be here at all!!!!! he mentioned.

Dead end street,and so on.....I think everybody knows the Set-list from the previous London/Scandinavian dates,with the exeption in Helsinki, of some "strange" reason we heard Alcohol (half of the song) Ray tasted the Finnish beer, and somebody from the audience shouted "alcohol",Ray started at once to play the song,that was a "surprise". The second surprise was when the Finnish newspaper intervuer had asked him a few days earlier to play Celluloid, cos it's one of the famous Kinks'songs in Finland (I wonder from where he got that???) Yes it's famous by a Finnish Rock star who has translated it to a Finnish song!!!!! but I doubt, that a very few really know that the original is The Kinks!!!!

Ray spred his "famous" humor round the show, once again, think if Sting or Mark Knopfler get the audience to laugh as much Ray got???? only a question, not to say that they're even good in their own way, musically, but hey....think Ray is one of the greatest, at least, he should be there (for "us" he's number one now and has always been) Again we had (thanks for it?) Storyteller a little bit in it too, YRGM, the story.....Fuck off..... One nice thing was when he introduced his band,....and on bass gt....he don't know where he is,he thinks he's in a film....

3 ENCORES

He finished the show with "the blond Lola what he had met in the afternoon in Helsinki city,and she told Ray that if she appear to the show,he will play the song"!!!!!...

ps. heard that Stockholm, Circus too was a GREAT SHOW

Thorbjorn with the whole family and a lot of good friends enjoyed the show to 110%